On March 11, 1948, a general strike was called by the ‘Rashtrobhasha Sangram Parishad’ in the towns of then East Pakistan in protest against the omission of Bangla from the languages of the Constituent Assembly, the Bangla letters on Pakistani coins and stamps, and the use of only Urdu in recruitment tests for the navy. A young activist was picketing at the second entrance of the Secretariat. At one point during the picketing, he halted the car carrying the Police S.P. Chatham and I.G. Zakir Hossain. Others picketing with him were Qazi Golam Mahbub and Barkat. When the I.G. handcuffed the other two activists, the man laid down in front of the car. The I.G. then said, “You are under arrest too” and grabbed the man’s hand and the man held the shiny car bumper with his other hand. The car then started to move dragging the man along with the S.I.. The man continued holding the bumper and started shouting at the I.G. for his atrocious manner. He was later arrested and taken away. This man was my late father Shawkat Ali. He was a noted leader and a valiant warrior for the cause of Bangla as the state language of our nation. Also arrested on that day were Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Shamsul Huq, Oli Ahad, Abdul Wahed and others. Separate cases were filed against Shawkat Ali and Qazi Golam Mahbub. All the arrestees were released on the evening of 15th March after signing the Rashtrobhasha Chukti (Languagy Movement Treaty). But the authorities refused to free Shawkat Ali, Qazi Golam Mahbub and Zakir Hossain because, along with Language Movement charges they had separate cases against them because of the confrontation at the Secretariat. At this point, the other released leaders and activists started shouting at the jail authorities and declared that they would not leave prison until all the leaders are freed. The authorities finally had to release the other three leaders. Shaikh Mujibur Rahman and Shawkat Ali then went to 150 Chawk Moghultuly and spent the night there.

On 16th March 1948, a student meeting was held at the Dhaka University campus demanding Bengali to be the National language. Suddenly, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman started shouting, “Cholo cholo assembly cholo” (Let’s go to the assembly) and told everyone that they should all go to the assembly hall. The students then started to proceed towards the assembly hall shouting slogans like, “Rashtrobhasha Bangla Chai”(We want Bangla as the state language) .The procession passed Engineering college, Medical College and reached the four corners near assembly hall. They surrounded the assembly hall and stayed there until the evening. The members of the assembly, speaker, deputy speaker and the members of the parliament were all encircled and they had to stay inside the assembly hall for several hours after the end of the session. At this time Hamidul Haque Chowdhury told the district magistrate Rahmatullah that all the students should be shot. In response, Shawkat Ali told him to come out of the assembly hall and face him. While this squabble was going on, the students suddenly came under attack by the police. They started using batons, tear gas and firing blanks. Nineteen activists were injured and Shawkat Ali was the most seriously injured. When everybody started running, a Punjabi policeman was right behind Shawkat Ali and he was repeatedly hitting him with his baton. When he reached Dhaka Medical College (Where the Shahid Minar is now), the policeman hit him very hard and Shawkat Ali fainted and fell on the street. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Shawkat Ali was one of the founders of Awami Muslim League – which would later become Awami League. Awami Muslim League was formed under the leadership of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani in 1949. Shawkat Ali was in charge of the activists of Workers Convention during that time. He led and actively took part in all the chapters of ‘Language movement’. He was deeply involved with ‘Tamaddun Majlish’, the paternal organization of Language movement. On December 30, 1947, a meeting was held by the ‘Tamaddun Majlish’ at Rashid Building which was located near the then Dhaka University Building. This meeting was presided by Professor Abul Kashem. The first Rashtra Bhasha Sangram Parishad (Language Action Committee) was created at this meeting. It was called Tamaddunn Majlisher Rashtrabhasha Sub-Committee. Shawkat Ali was elected as one of the members of the Sangram Parishad (Action committee). Gradually many other non-communal and progressive organisations joined the movement, which finally turned into a mass movement. Rashid Building became a meeting place for the soldiers of Language Movement. This building came under attack by miscreants on 20th January, 1948 and Shawkat Ali was hurt in that incident. Later, the Bhasha Andolon Office was relocated to Fazlul Haq Hall on January 25, 1948 by Md. Toaha. The struggle to free our nation actually started with the Language Movement of 1948. The Language Movement reached its climax in 1952 with the indiscriminate shooting by the police at protesters and killing four young men, Rafiquddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat (an MA student of Political Science) and Abdus Salam (a peon at the Secretariat). During the tragic and fateful days of February, 1952, Shawkat Ali organized and led many of the protests, processions and picketing. He was the Chief Organiser for Dhaka City Awami League during the 50’s. He was arrested on March 2nd 1952 and was imprisoned for a long time. Shawkat Ali was born on 20th April, 1918 in Gandaria, Dhaka. His father Shamser Ali was a noted businessman and land owner in that area. My father’s house in 150 Chawk Moghultuly (the building is no longer there) was the meeting place for all those involved with Bhasha Andolon (Language Movement). Before Language Movement and the partition, this house used to be the Muslim League Office. I along with my 2 brothers and a sister were born there and heard a lot of stories from my father about the days of Language Movement. Many eminent leaders of this nation would spend days and nights in our house and continued their struggle for Rashtrobhasha (State language). Among the leaders who stayed in that house were Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hossain S. Sohrawardy, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, Tajuddin Ahmed, Qazi Golam Mahbub, Abdul Matin, Oli Ahad, Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, and numerous others. They were all dear friend of my father. Many discussions, meetings, secret meetings for Language Movement and ultimately Liberation of Bangladesh took place at this house in 150 Chawk Moghultuly. My father fell ill during the tumultuous days of August, 1975. He suffered a stroke on 16th August and was taken to Holy Family Hospital. He died two days later on August 18, 1975. He is buried in Jurain graveyard, Dhaka. Shawkat Ali was a leader and a courageous warrior for ‘Language Movement’. He organized and attended meetings, gave speeches, led demonstrations and picketing. He was dedicated to the cause of struggle for Bangla language. He was imprisoned several times and spent a long time in Jail. He was engaged in many significant episodes of our national history. Shawkat Ali was a proud son of our nation. He is my hero. Bibliography: Purbo Banglar Bhasha Andolon O Tothkalin Rajneeti (Badruddin Umar) Vol. 1 pages: 67, 81, 83, 84 Weekly Soinik, February 22, 1953